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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23041018">Saved by the Kiss</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rei382/pseuds/Rei382'>Rei382</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M, Non-Established, mild sexual harassment</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 15:20:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,050</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23041018</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rei382/pseuds/Rei382</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ed can totally take care of himself. But that doesn't mean a little help wouldn't be nice.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Edward Elric/Roy Mustang</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>193</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Saved by the Kiss</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/ausynja/gifts">ausynja</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>With loud music beating in his ears and alcohol flowing through his veins, Ed was just trying to have a nice evening out. He thought he deserved that. Earned that, even, after the day he’d had at work, finally figuring out that array and solving the issue the lab had for over a month now.</p><p>It seemed, though, that the blond man who was sitting right next to him didn’t think so. He was sitting <em>way</em> too close, didn’t care about any of Ed’s attempts to get away, and didn’t care about Ed’s opinions about... anything, really.</p><p>“Yeah, mmhm,” Ed’s hand played with the empty glass of beer as he gave his uninterested reply to whatever that guy had said. It was probably his fifth or sixth. Every time he emptied his glass and tried to get up with one excuse or another, the man (did he even bother saying his name? He probably did, but Ed couldn’t remember it) immediately ordered another for him.</p><p>“Exactly, so you see, I am going to get a promotion soon,” the man shone a smile at him, and without letting Ed say - anything, really - he turned towards the bar. “Hey! Can we get another round here?” he called at the bartender, who nodded and got back to her work.</p><p>Ed felt the level of desperation and annoyance rising inside him. He started getting up. “Well, actually, I sort of need to go - “</p><p>“Nonsense! It’s Friday, it’s the weekend, there you go honey,” the man handed some coins to the bartender who’d just arrived with their drinks. She took them with a clearly fake smile before moving on. “Have this drink with me. What did you say your name was?”</p><p>“I didn’t.” Ed considered just getting up and leave. Back when he was a teenager, he would have. Rudeness was his second name, as Al liked to say. But since then he’d grown up, and while his mouth was still as dirty as ever, that part of him that did not care about other people’s feelings faded away with time. He wanted to blame his brother, but reality was that this had absolutely nothing to do with him. It was just another one of the things that changed after he’d left the military and started searching for himself. He sat back down.</p><p>The man pushed the glass of beer a little bit towards Ed, still sporting a bright grin. “Maybe you grace me with your name then?”</p><p>Ed looked at the glass, the sweat dripping over it from the chill of the beer. Maybe it was time to ditch the re-education he got in his adult life. “Maybe I won’t.”</p><p>He jumped in his place, looking up, when he suddenly felt the man’s touch on his knee, centimeters away from where his automail leg connected to his flesh thigh. “Keeping the mystery, huh? I like it.”</p><p>Ed pushed the hand away. It felt offending even through his pants, like something cold and icky was touching him. “Keep your filthy hands to yourself. I’m out of here.” He slid off the chair, intending to just get out and leave; but the man’s touch was no longer gentle when he returned his hand to its place on Ed’s knee. It became firm, stopping Ed’s movement.</p><p>“Playing hard to get? Come on. We were having a nice conversation here. One glass of beer won’t hurt you.”</p><p>Ed moved away, now using force to get that hand off of him and get up. “Listen - “</p><p>“Oh, here you are, honey.”</p><p>There was a sudden touch on Ed’s shoulder. That, along with the sudden voice, talking so clearly directly at him, and his general nervousness from the sudden aggressiveness from the man who’d decided that anything Ed had done for was his and his obviously tiny dick’s sake, made him flinch.</p><p>“What the - “ He started, but the words died in his throat as soon as he turned his head and realized <em>who</em> it was that appeared out of nowhere and decided it was his right to claim Ed like this, and call him - just the <em>thought</em> was enough to anger Ed even more - honey. “<em>Mustang.”</em></p><p>Roy Mustang, his former commanding officer and current acquaintance, at best, stood right next to him, shamelessly resting his hand on his shoulder, and smiling brightly at him. How long had it been since he’d last seen him? Weeks? Months? Ed didn’t exactly bother to renew the contact with him when he decided to move to Central City, feeling too awkward about it and really out of place. How was he supposed to come and say that he’d moved here to the man that used to order him around? It surely didn’t help that Ed’s teenage self harbored some kind of a strange crush on him. He did see him every now and then, especially when he couldn’t get away from his former comrades, or special occasions. Every birthday, or holiday; but while they were civil towards one another, there was never really anything beyond that distant friendship there.</p><p>Since when was he visiting Central City’s bar scene? And furthermore, since when was he calling Ed nicknames, standing so close, or <em>touching</em> him?</p><p>His hand on his shoulder felt invading, but in a completely different way than the way the stranger man’s hand felt. Where with the stranger there was cold, with Mustang there was scorching heat.</p><p>“I hope you didn’t have to wait too long for me to get here! I apologize that I had you waiting. Was this nice man keeping you company?” Mustang was talking as if they’ve been seeing each other regularly. No; Ed realized, remembering the way he referred to him when he just showed up. Like they were <em>dating</em>. </p><p>Ed’s first instinct, after the initial shock of Mustang’s presence and of the way he was touching him ebbed away, was to push him away; to yell at him <em>what the fuck do you think you’re doing?</em>. He felt like he was attacked - not only by this strange man whom he didn’t even know, but by the man that, in the past, made him feel safer than anyone other than his mom ever did. And he was calling this man, the asshole that was trying to get Ed drunk and fuck knows what else, <em>nice</em>. He was standing here, with his hand on Ed, bluntly in his personal space, and was talking to him like he was a child. </p><p>No. This was already past <em>any</em> red line Ed might have. “What are you - “</p><p>But Mustang was ignoring him completely. Instead of moving his hand away, his hold tightened, ever so slightly. Ed could feel it, but it wasn’t enough to really stop him from doing anything. His other hand, Ed noticed when he move his head towards him and raised his own hand to move Mustang away from him, reached forward towards the stranger. In a <em>greeting</em>. </p><p>“I’m General Mustang. Nice to meet you, uh - ?”</p><p>Ed’s stare moved from Mustang’s hand to the man. What the hell was going on? There was nothing <em>nice</em> about that asshole, about meeting him. <em>Nothing</em>. “What do you mean – “</p><p>“Gunther. Nice to meet you too, General, but me and this young man were just having a nice conversation, so if you would kindly – “</p><p>Ed felt the blood flooding to his head. Mustang and this – <em>Gunther</em> guy – were just talking about him like he wasn’t even here! Like he didn’t matter! Like he had no opinions, no rights. This was unacceptable! He opened his mouth, but before any sound came out, Mustang spoke again.</p><p>“And I thank you very much for keeping my boyfriend company, but I will take this from here.”</p><p>“Your boyfriend?” both Ed and Gunther said simultaneously. Luckily, with all the noise that there was already around them, and Gunther’s obvious tendency to be completely self-centered, he didn’t seem to notice that Ed was just as surprised as he was at the statement.</p><p>“Why, of course. We were going to have our date here tonight. Weren’t we, honey?”</p><p>“No – stop calling me that!” Ed’s head was spinning. Honey? They – a <em>date</em>? Maybe he was just dreaming this whole thing. Maybe this was just some kind of twisted horror dream. Not that he’d never dreamt about having a… date… with Mustang. But it was never like this. He never felt <em>attacked</em> in those dreams, and never had this knot in his stomach. And there were, usually, much less people and clothes involved.</p><p>“Your <em>boyfriend</em> doesn’t seem to be agreeing with you.” Ed moved his eyes from Mustang’s unfaltering smile to Gunther, who had his eyebrow arched up in doubt.</p><p>“That’s because he’s very shy. I think you should walk away, now.” Mustang’s hold on him tightened a little bit further, and in a slight, almost invisible movement, he pulled Ed a little bit closer.</p><p>Ed tried to move away; for a second, before he realized what Mustang had actually said, and the meaning behind his strange actions sunk in. Mustang was helping him. He was pretending to be Ed’s boyfriend to get this asshole to stop harassing him. He looked at him again, no longer mad at the smirk on his lips. He wasn’t exactly grateful. He could handle the situation on his own, he was going to, just a moment after Mustang showed up, but it was still… <em>nice</em> of him.</p><p>“Yeah, I, uh, just don’t like advertising it,” Ed said, strengthening Mustang’s point, now that he got it. He will, later, be forced to both punch Mustang and thank him. But first they had to finish what Mustang started.</p><p>For a moment, he thought it’d worked. Gunther didn’t make any further advances and that annoying smirk on his face was gone. But then he shrugged. “I don’t buy it. Why don’t you stay here with me and we resolve this over this beer I bought for you, hmm?”</p><p>“How about – no?” Ed retorted back. Why wouldn’t he just let go? Even if he didn’t believe them – which was understandable considering they were lying, and that until now Ed didn’t realize what Mustang was doing and was low key rejecting him – surely no one could be dumb enough not to understand that Ed simply wasn’t interested. “I never asked you to buy that beer, in fact, I asked you not to.”</p><p>“Look, I’m a nice guy. I know I’m not bad looking. Let’s cut this pretense and get to know each other, hmm?”</p><p>“You’re not – “</p><p>“Pretense?” Mustang talked over Ed’s words, somehow managing to sound incredibly hurt. Did politics skills come along with acting skills? “Are you implying that I don’t love my boyfriend? Let me show you differently.”</p><p>Before Ed could react, before he could even decipher what Mustang had said over the loud music and with the light impact of the alcohol he’d had before he decided to get up and leave, Mustang’s hand turned him to face him, and before he knew it, Mustang’s lips had closed on his own. His eyes widened in surprise and he let out a muffled groan. Mustang was – kissing him?! It was only superficial; just Mustang’s lips on his, feeling coarse but also soft. He felt his hair tickling his nose and cheeks, and felt his breath brushing over his skin. He was petrified, unsure of what to do, how to react to this. He knew that his face were probably crimson red, as he could feel the heat in his cheeks and forehead. If he was lucky, the place was dark enough so no one would notice.</p><p>But Ed also felt that spark of electricity that passed through him the moment Mustang’s lips touched his; because this, kissing Mustang, was years’ worth of wet dream material that haunted Ed ever since he was about sixteen, and became aware of what a handsome man Mustang is, how powerful he looked, how safe he felt. But it was a dream he forced himself to push to the back of his mind, knowing it would not – could never – come true.</p><p>Yet… now it was, and for a moment, Ed forgot this was all just a show to get his harasser to walk away.</p><p>He closed his eyes and relaxed into Mustang’s touch. He parted his lips slightly, inviting Roy to do the same; which he did. Ed felt Roy’s hand moving from his shoulder, along his back, to the back of his neck, pulling him closer; and Ed complied with a soft moan. Hesitating, he ventured with his tongue, lightly brushing over Roy’s lower lip. A part of him was concerned that he was taking this too far, that doing that would end this – this little piece of heaven he found out of nowhere; but his concern turned false when instead of pushing him away Roy deepened the kiss and Ed was able to taste him.</p><p>And oh, this was <em>truly</em> heaven. Ed forgot about where they were. Forgot about the situation that got him here. All that mattered was that he was kissing Roy, and that it was <em>real</em>. He moved his own hands, raising them to hold on Roy’s nape and to bury in his hair, which felt silky against his fingers. He wanted to pull, to expose Roy’s neck and kiss him there, but he controlled himself for now, settling for his mouth and for staying close to him.</p><p>“Get a room!”</p><p>The disgusted voice brought Ed back to reality, making him remember that Gunther guy, remember that Mustang was just pretending, that none of it was real. Ashamed, he pulled away and looked down, away from Mustang. He felt the loss immediately, as if someone suddenly vacuumed all the oxygen from the room the moment he parted from Mustang. He was left breathless, weak-kneed. He tried to pretend like this was normal. After all, to Gunther, this wasn’t Ed and Roy’s first kiss. They were supposed to be lovers.</p><p>“We will, when we get back home, now will you back off – “ but Ed realized, when he was finally able to lift his gaze from the floor, that Gunther was not there. The person who called at them was a new stranger who gave him a look, but moved on once his mission of ruining the second best moment of Ed’s life was accomplished. Not that Ed mourned the loss, but when did Gunther even leave?</p><p>“He’s gone. You’re free now,” Mustang said. Was it just Ed, or was his voice a little lower, hoarser, than the usual? He turned to look at him, trying to pretend he didn’t just make out with Roy Mustang in a public place. He caught a glimpse of Mustang’s tongue, looking at him just after he’d licked his lips. Ed was suddenly very aware that the feeling of Mustang moving his tongue on <em>his</em> lips still lingered; and oh, he wanted to feel that again. “You’re welcome, by the way.”</p><p>He cleared his throat. “Yeah. Yes,” he said, and then realized what Mustang had said. His embarrassment was replaced by anger, and he looked at him again, even angrier now that he saw that the smirk was still there, on his abused lips. “No! I didn’t ask you to help me! I was managing just <em>fine</em> on my own – “</p><p>“Of course you were,” Mustang said back calmly. “But it was nicer this way, wasn’t it?”</p><p>“Yes – I mean <em>no</em> – you had <em>no right</em> – “</p><p>“May I buy you a drink?”</p><p>The simple question, cutting so elegantly into Ed’s scold, caught him by surprise. The way Mustang stood there, smiling at him as if he didn’t just shutter Ed’s world into pieces and then rebuilt it. As if they didn’t just share the best kiss Ed had ever had. As if this whole situation, them, together at a bar without anyone else that they knew, was normal.</p><p>“<em>What</em>?”</p><p>“I would like to buy you a drink, if that is okay with you,” Mustang repeated. “Or if you prefer, a dinner. Say, tomorrow?”</p><p>Ed frowned, trying to understand the situation. Was Mustang saying what he thought he was saying?</p><p>“Are you – are you asking me on a date?”</p><p>“And if I am?” Mustang asked back. He leaned slightly closer. “I know I enjoyed this kiss, and I think that you did, too. You are no longer my subordinate, and haven’t been for long enough as to not raise any unwanted questions, or worse, rumors. You’re an adult, and quite a handsome one, too, if I daresay. Of course, if you’re not interested, we can pretend I never said this, and keep this pretend kiss as what it was. But if you are, I would love to see where we can get… when we’re not pretending.”</p><p>Ed couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Mustang – Roy Mustang – really did just ask him out. He enjoyed their kiss just as much as Ed did, and he wanted to do that again. He wanted to see where they would get.</p><p>It felt…</p><p>Surreal.</p><p>He must have been silent for too long, since Mustang moved away and removed his hand from Ed’s nape, bringing it instead to the side of his body. “I see. I’ll pretend this never happened. Have a great evening, Edward. It was nice seeing you.”</p><p>“No – I – wait,” Ed reached over to hold on Mustang’s wrist, stopping him from walking away. “I… I would love to. Have dinner with you, I mean. Tomorrow’s fine. Whenever, I am free in the evening.”</p><p>The disappointed look on Mustang’s face turned into a smile. “Does six sound good to you?”</p><p>Ed smiled back. “Six is great.” He then realized he was still holding him, so he let go. “Do you, uh, want to stay here a bit, too? My treat. As a thank you for helping me out,” he added quickly, seeing that Mustang was about to protest.</p><p>Ed’s reason seemed to have satisfied him though. “I’m having scotch, neat,” he said, and walked towards the bar. “I’ll let you treat me tonight, but I’m buying dinner tomorrow.”</p><p>Ed considered arguing; but he was too tired, too happy, and too dazed from tonight’s events to insist. “Fine,” he said instead, and turned towards the bartender, who took his order with an encouraging smile.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>this was based on a prompt by OTP Prompts on Tumblr</p></blockquote></div></div>
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